Benevolent eating

Restaurant Week is tasty way to benefit hospice care

By Samantha Friedman (Contact)

LITTLE ROCK — Little Rock and North Little Rock are joining the ranks of culinary-conscious cities nationwide with their first River Cities Restaurant Week.

From today through Aug. 30 - actually two weeks - nearly 40 eateries will offer three-course meals priced at $20 for lunch and $35 for dinner.

However, unlike most municipalities where restaurants join forces to offer prixfixe meals for a limited time, this event will not be headed by a city or a public relations firm, but by a nonprofit.

Five dollars of each meal will go to the Arkansas Hospice Foundation.

Event co-chairmen Janet Davis and Leah Elenzweig, past board chairman and chairman, respectively, of the foundation, perceived a benefit to be gained by introducing an unprecedented type of fundraiser in this area that would promote awareness of Hospice’s work.

“The Hospice mission is pretty clearcut, but what distinguishes ours is to treat people who are dying with love and dignity and to aid their families not only during the time of the act of dying, but also afterwards,” Elenzweig explained of the organization, whose board she joined two years after her grandmother died of pancreatic cancer in a Hospice inpatient facility. “We offer counseling and help for the people who are left behind. There’s resources, there’s help, it’s compassion and care. But what’s different about Arkansas Hospice is we don’t refuse people, but you still get the highest level of care that’s available.”

Most restaurants are participating for dinner only, with some doing lunch and dinner and others only doing lunch. The majority have agreed to stick to the suggested price points; those who are not will be charging less, not more, says Tommy Glanton, Hospice special events manager.

As for what Scott McGehee will be offering for dinner and carry-out at his Bouvelard Bread Co. location on North Grant Street, he says: “My menu will be completely different every day of the week, and it will be based on what’s ripe, delicious and in season. Also, the weather plays a big role in my menus, and what I’m hungry for is a key component because typically I eat my own dinner special.” His new restaurant ZaZa, under partner JohnBeachboard, is also participating.

Each restaurant is offering at least three choices each of appetizers, entrees and desserts, with some offering as many as 10 entrees, as in the case of Mark Abernathy’s Loca Luna and Bene Vita.

Abernathy says he isn’t sure if business will benefit from Restaurant Week “because we help so many charities, but I just think it’s something that we can do and we should do. We should give back to the community that supports us.”

Even if that could end up costing restaurants a few clams, he says.

“Things are getting pretty tight for the restaurant industry. Food costs are going through the roof and business is starting to slow a little bit, so we have to think harder about what we’re giving away. In this case, I think this is an interesting approach because we can factor the gift in to the price of the meal.”

Michael Selig of Vermillion Water Grille - and brother of event organizer Elenzweig - says he is excited to showcase his raw bar, fish flown in from Hawaii and desserts prepared in-house, adding he’ll offer “the same great quality, just for a lower price.”

“It’s a whole different way of getting people to come out and support a nonprofit, and I think it’s a great way to give back to Hospice and it gives back to the restaurants because it’s during a slow time of the year,” he says. “People are getting kids back to school, they’re buying clothing, they’re taking that last-minute vacation, so it’d be nice to go out to a place like Vermillion and be able to get a prix-fixe meal and not feel guilty about it.”

Peter Brave of Brave New Restaurant, serving fixed-price lunch and dinner, saysLittle Rock offers a good venue for such a fundraiser.

“I think that this community probably more so than most has got a really nice proportion of good restaurants per capita,” he says. “I think that’s really kind of the fun thing about Little Rock. When you get the chef owner-operated real hands-on kind of restaurants like we’ve got a lot of around the city, that makes it even more of a connection.”

With chef Lee Richardson’s lunch-only menu including such items as cabrito tart, buttermilk fried quail, braised rabbit and cornmeal crepes with blueberry compote and sweet corn ice cream, patronizing Ashley’s at the Capital Hotel during Restaurant Week is a deal compared to its regular prix-fixe lunch priced at $25.

Kathy Webb of Lilly’s Dim Sum Then Some, who created different menus for lunch and dinner, says she is incorporating her signature Asian crab cakes, Chinese potstickers (steamed pork dumplings) and coconut creme brulee.

Other restaurant options include Citron Chicken stuffed with spinach, ricotta, parmesan and almonds and the vegetarianFarmer’s Market Encore at Trio’s; New Zealand Lamb Chop Salad and Ginger Soy Shrimp and Beef Tips at Sonny Williams;

Pan Sauteed Horseradish Encrusted Grouper with Cajun Mashed Potatoes at Cajun’s Wharf; chocolate-mint creme brulee and hazelnut-almond torte at Aydelotte’s;

strawberry shortcake at Lulav; Pistachio Encrusted Lamb Chops with Roasted Rosemary and Garlic Potatoes, homemade ice cream and Quadruple Chocolate Brownie with fresh strawberries at Copper Grill; and conch fritters, paella and shrimp and lemon soup at Argenta Seafood Co.

River Cities Restaurant Week was inspired by KRLD Restaurant Week, hosted by KRLD News Radio in Dallas. That one-week event is now in its 11th year and includes almost 120 establishments donating $7 of each meal. Last year, it raised $425,000 for the North Texas Food Bank and Lena Pope Home, which serves children and families with behavioral health care needs. Because of the event’s popularity, restaurants become reservation-only during that week, with guests calling for tables weeks in advance.

A kickoff event for River Cities Restaurant Week held last Sunday, at whichpatrons could sample food from participating restaurants, has already raised an estimated $5,000, Glanton says.

River Cities Restaurant Week Today through Aug. 30 A list of participating restaurants is available at www.rcrestaurantweek.com. Most lunches are $20 and most dinners are $35, with $5 per meal benefiting Arkansas Hospice Foundation (items ordered off the regular menu, tax, gratuity and drinks are not included in the fixed price).

(501) 748-3315

Weekend, Pages 104 on 08/15/2008